LEGAZPI CITY—Free tuition and miscellaneous fees in state universities and colleges and Tesda-accredited technical vocational schools is no longer just a dream, says Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda.
“It’s now for real!” Salceda said after the House Committee on Appropriations, where he is senior vice chairman, has finally sourced out and allotted some P41 billion for the program in the 2018 national budget.
This now assures funding for the implementation next year of the celebrated Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or Republic Act 10931, which President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed into law earlier this year, the congressman said.
This was despite doubts on the government’s capacity to finance the program, Salceda noted. The measure did not specify its fund sources, but the President advised the House to ensure funding for it, he added.
Salceda, principal author of RA 10931 in the House, and Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles separately announced the good news in Legazpi City and Manila, respectively, and confirmed that P41 billion to P51 billion is set for the education budget next year.
“Free SUCs is real. No tuition and miscellaneous expenses. Admission is the only requirement,” Salceda posted on his social media account, followed by “No tuition in community colleges is real” and “Free techvoc in Tesda/LGU-run TVET is real.”
At the state-run Bicol University in Albay’s second district, which Salceda represents, some 28,000 students stand to benefit from the measure with a subsidy of about P480 million per year.
There are 114 SUCs (state universities and colleges) and 16 LUCs (local universities and colleges) accredited by the Commission on Higher Education and 122 technical vocational institutions accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in the country.
Salceda filed his version of the measure, HB 2771, in July last year “to solve the continuing paradox that while college education helps us to escape poverty, Filipinos have to be rich to afford one.” His bill was merged with those filed by party-list Reps. Antonio Tinio of ACT and Sarah Jane Elago of Kabataan party-list.
The salient components of the breakthrough legislation include: Free higher education in SUCs and LUCs; Free technical-vocational education and training in post-secondary technical-vocational institutions; Tertiary Education Subsidy for Filipino students, and a Student Loan Program for Tertiary Education.
Salceda said RA 10931 will usher in the “next wave social revolution in building a more egalitarian society.” He refers to the law a “a most vital social legislation, second only to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion bill in terms of significance and permanence.”
The Bicolano lawmaker said RA 10931 drew much of its provisions from the Albay model on Universal Access to College Education program, which he pioneered when he was governor of his province for nine years.
The program had helped some 88,888 students in completing their studies and served as the “inclusive tool and key to Albay’s poverty reduction from 41 percent in 2007 to 17.1 percent in 2015,” he noted.
Salceda, however, said students in community colleges may have to wait awhile, since only about 16 out of 111 LUCs have passed CHED accreditation.
RA 10931 also provides for some P1.3 billion in student loans for those who belong to the lowest 30 percent who may need additional financial resources in pursuing their college studies.
Aside from its mechanisms that provide all Filipinos equal opportunities to quality education in private and public educational institutions, the measure also aims to prioritize poor but academically able students, ensure optimized utilization of government resources in education and recognize the complementary roles of public and private institutions in the tertiary educational system.